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Sunday, June 3, 2012

If I can make one person aware, then I have accomplished my goal

When someone tells me I can't do something, that what I am doing doesn't matter in the big picture - well, that just makes me do it even more.

People told me I was crazy to change my blog and stop doing the "blogger" thing. That nobody wanted to read about animals, conservation, the environment, or my beliefs toward these issues. I have been told that I am alienating my "friends". Well, if these so called friends respected me and my beliefs, then they wouldn't feel this way. Rather, they would support me.

A little over a week ago, I tweeted this picture of Nola and Angalifu from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park with the caption "This picture shows 1/4 of the world's Northern White Rhino population. Warning it may shock you"

Yes, you did the math correctly. There are only 7 Northern White Rhinos left living in the world. These animals are critically endangered and will be disappear in your lifetime if something is not done to stop the poachers.

Between my tweet, the re-tweets, my posting on Facebook, and the Facebook shares - over 20,000 people saw this picture. In fact, someone just re-tweeted this yesterday so that number has increased.

That my friends is called creating awareness and making a difference.

I entered a contest and created a board on Pinterest called Pin It For Tigers to show how beautiful these animals are and bring attention to the drastically declining numbers in the wild. I became an advocate for the tigers. Once my board was named as one of the finalist, I had 20 new followers of that board and several re-pins.

When I share pictures of new babies born at zoos and aquariums, they make people smile. Who doesn't melt when they see a picture like this? These people will then want to visit the zoos and aquariums, which are mostly non-profit organizations, in turn helping to support the animals and the conservation efforts made for them.

Photo courtesy of Terri Haines, Aquarium of the Pacific

That my friends is called creating awareness and making a difference.

No matter what your passion is ...

No matter what your cause is ...

Regardless of your age ...

Never.

Ever.

Underestimate the power you have to create awareness and make a difference in the world.